Politics & Government
Final Ballots Being Counted In MacArthur-Kim 3rd District Race
Tallying of provisional ballots was continuing Tuesday but election officials were tightlipped on when it would be completed.
The final counting is underway in the race for New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives, but what will happen once the final tallies are in remains uncertain.
Democrat Andy Kim leads incumbent Republican Tom MacArthur by 3,478 votes, according to the unofficial totals posted on the Burlington County and Ocean County election websites. Kim has 150,495 to 147,017 for MacArthur, as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Those totals include mail-in ballots received through Nov. 8, the deadline for those postmarked by Nov. 6, but they do not include provisional ballots that were cast Nov. 6 by voters who received mail-in ballots they had not requested.
Kim declared victory on Nov. 7, even as mail-in ballots remained to be counted.
"With the vast majority of votes now in and counted and based on the numbers we saw from Burlington County today, we have built a substantial lead," Kim said in an announcement at his Mount Laurel campaign headquarters. "I am proud to announce that we have won."
MacArthur, however, has not conceded.
"This has been a hard fought campaign and like Andy Kim, I'm ready to see it come to an end," MacArthur said in a statement posted to Facebook on Nov. 7. "I have always said that I will be guided by the voters of the district and there are nearly 7,000 more of them who haven't been heard from yet. We must ensure that their votes — and all votes — are counted in a transparent way that protects the integrity of this election."
That stance had not changed as the provisional ballots, estimated at about 6,400 in an NJ.com report, were in the process of being counted Tuesday. Across New Jersey, hundreds of voters cast provisional ballots after being sent mail-in ballots they did not request. (READ MORE:NJ's Mail-In Ballot Law Leaves Some Wondering If Votes Will Count)
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There were approximately 2,400 provisional ballots in Ocean County and about 4,000 in Burlington, the NJ.com report said.
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New Jersey voters were asked a big question: Should the state legalize recreational weed? See unofficial results here.
"We're examining our options while the votes are being counted," said Chris Russell, MacArthur's campaign strategist, of what might be done once those final tallies are in. "No decisions yet" on whether MacArthur would concede or seek a recount if Kim retains his current lead.
Zack Carroll, Kim's campaign manager, was steadfast as well.
"The numbers are crystal clear," Carroll said as the campaigns waited. "Andy has an insurmountable lead that we believe will only grow as the last ballots are counted. Make no mistake — Andy Kim will be the next member of Congress from New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District."
The vote totals for the two candidates swung wildly on Election Day. Ocean County, which is heavily Republican, posted results from those who voted at the polls by 9 p.m. Tuesday and, not surprisingly, MacArthur held a substantial lead of more than 20,000 votes. About 11 p.m., Burlington County posted its initial tallies from voters who went to the polls, and with an infusion of more than 87,000 votes in the heavily Democratic county, Kim took a 395-vote lead.
At midnight, Ocean County updated its vote totals with the results from more than 30,000 mail-in ballots, which boosted MacArthur back into the lead by 2,315 votes, which remained until Burlington County added in 25,000 mail-in ballots received there, pushing Kim back into the lead.
As of 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 7, the unofficial tallies had MacArthur, the Republican incumbent, leading Democrat Kim by 2,315 votes, 136,408 for MacArthur and 134,093 for Kim. Ocean County's figures included 30,453 mail-in ballots cast. That afternoon, Burlington updated with 25,545 mail-in votes giving Kim 148,580 votes to 145,958 for MacArthur. Those numbers were updated further after the Nov. 8 deadline for the current totals.
The results so far show the split between the two halves of the district: In Ocean County, MacArthur has 76,998 votes to 46,861 for Kim, while in Burlington, Kim has 103,634 and MacArthur 70,019.
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Photos of Tom MacArthur and Andy Kim provided by the campaign
